OpenAI shakes up partnership with Microsoft, capping revenue share payments

CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman speaks during the 2026 Infrastructure Summit of government officials, corporate executives, and labor leaders, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 11, 2026. Kylie Cooper | Reuters OpenAI and Microsoft on Monday announced a revamped partnership agreement that will allow the artificial intelligence company to serve customers across any cloud provider. As part of the new agreement, the companies said revenue share payments from OpenAI to Microsoft will be "subject to a total cap," but they will continue through 2030, "independent of OpenAI's technology progress." Microsoft will no longer pay a revenue share to OpenAI, according to a blog post . The revenue sharing agreement between the two companies has existed for years. OpenAI will pay Microsoft at the same percentage, which is 20%, as part of the new deal, according to a source familiar with agreement who asked not to be named because the details are confidential. Microsoft has been one of OpenAI's longtime backers, investing more than $13 billion in the company since 2019. The companies have continued to tout their relationship as core and strategic, but it's shown signs of strain in recent months as the partners move onto the other's turf. …